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Enchanted Forest: 12 Colour-in Notecards – A Review

Disclaimer – Please read this disclosure about my use of affiliate links which are contained within this post.Enchanted Forest: 12 Colour-in Notecards (Colouring Notecards) is published and kindly sent to me to review by Laurence King Publishing. This beautiful set of notecards is housed in a sturdy, thick card box which is cream with gold foil accents. It’s fully colourable and shows on the back what images are on the 12 cards (all are pictured below). The box has a little cardboard platform inside with a beautiful black and white leaf print which the cards and envelopes are sat on top of so that they don’t move around in the box. The 12 cards each contain a different scaled down image from Johanna Basford’s original Enchanted Forest colouring book and this means that the images are very intricate and detailed. The cards themselves are made from cream card which is a similar colour to the paper in her first two books, and the postcards so they match well as a set for those of you who like to collect things. The card is a medium weight, very similar to other colouring cards that are currently on the market, and it doesn’t bleed through or shadow at all with water-based pens however, I did have a very small issue with the ink occasionally spreading slightly sideways and going over the lines, this was a very minor issue but one that’s worth mentioning. The card is very lightly textured so would work fine with pencils though you won’t be able to build up lots of layers so you’ll have to blend carefully. The cards are 12.5 x 16.5cm so they’re between A6 and A5 size, and 9 of the cards have centralised circular or individual images and 3 have full page images which reach the edges of the cards, obviously there is no spine so there’s no issue in reaching all of these parts. The images are of course beautifully cohesive and are exact scaled down copies of the images in the books and a fairly good selection is included from the compass to the leaf boat, the dragonfly to the castle, the gate to the circular framed owl and squirrel. Almost all of the images on these cards were featured in the set of 20 postcards which you can read my review of here. The illustrations are all printed in a portrait orientation which is ideal because it means the cards will stay standing when displayed, landscape cards often slip and won’t stand after a few days. The cards are left blank inside for you to write your own messages and the back has a small dandelion motif and publishing information at the bottom. The set comes with 12 identical cream envelopes which have a small leafy design indicating where to put the postage stamp, and a little acorn drawing on the flap on the back.

In terms of mental health, these cards are lovely because not only do they give a wonderful small colouring project, you can also share the colouring love, either by colouring them and sending them to friends and family, or by sending the uncoloured cards so the recipient can colour it themselves (this would be a great way to convert newbies to colouring)! As with all of Johanna’s artwork, the illustrations are beautiful and have all been scaled down from the original images in order to make them fit on the cards, this means that they are much smaller than the original versions and are therefore only suitable for those of you with good vision and fine motor control. I was very disappointed with the Enchanted Forest Postcards because the designs were so small that they’re almost impossible to colour however, these cards are, luckily, a little larger (see comparison photos below). They’re still quite tricky to colour and do have a lot of very small and intricate details so fineliners and very sharp pencils are an absolute must! Although the images are small, they do require a lot of concentration so these cards are a project for your better days when you can focus well. The images are ideal for all sorts of mental and physical illnesses because they’re all grounded in nature which is great for calming you down, helping you zone out and lifting your mood. The line thickness is consistent throughout and is spindly thin so it’s pretty difficult to stay within the lines and you really will need very good vision for these. Unlike the Secret Garden notecards which I’ve not reviewed, but have seen online, these notecards don’t have any foiling added to them and are fully colourable which I personally think is much nicer. There is a fair amount of space on the majority of the cards to be able to add your own backgrounds or doodles if you wish, but they don’t look unfinished at all as they are because each image is a finished page, rather than an add your own drawing page from the book, but you have the option to add your own personal touches if you wish.

I would highly recommend these notecards to collectors of Johanna’s work, those of you with very good vision and fine motor control who would like beautiful, delicate cards to colour and send, and those who want an easy way of spreading the colouring love in order to convert non-colourers!